🔗 Share this article

This very day, a informal Coalition of the Determined, largely consisting of European officials, met in Paris with delegates of the Trump administration, aiming to secure additional progress on a sustainable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to halt the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", nobody in that gathering desired to jeopardise retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal elephant in the room in that grand and glittering Paris meeting, and the underlying mood was profoundly uneasy.

Recall the events of the past week: the White House's contentious intervention in Venezuela and the President Trump's insistence following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of national security".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It lies in the Arctic but is an semi-independent territory of Copenhagen.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two powerful individuals representing Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European colleagues to refrain from provoking the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have greatly desired to keep Greenland and the debate on Ukraine apart. But with the political temperature rising from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of major European nations at the talks released a communiqué saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the North must therefore be attained together, in conjunction with NATO allies like the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them alone, to determine on affairs concerning Denmark and Greenland," the statement further stated.

The communique was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was slow to be drafted and, because of the small number of supporters to the statement, it did not manage to demonstrate a Europe united in intent.

"If there had been a unified position from all 27 member states, plus NATO ally the UK, in support of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a resounding warning to America," noted a European foreign policy specialist.

Consider the irony at work at the France meeting. Multiple EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the White House in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an external actor (Moscow), on the heels of the US has entered independent Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also persistently openly undermining the sovereignty of another European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both participants of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, profoundly close allies. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, were Trump to fulfill his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an severe risk to NATO but also a significant problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is not the first time President Trump has spoken of his resolve to control Greenland. He's proposed purchasing it in the past. He's also not excluded taking it by force.

On Sunday that the island is "so strategic right now, it is patrolled by foreign naval assets all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests and Denmark is not going to be able to provide security".

Copenhagen strongly denies that claim. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in the island's defense encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US operates a strategic outpost already on the island – established at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the number of troops there from approximately 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has long been accused of neglecting the northern theater, until now.

Copenhagen has suggested it is willing to talk about a bigger US presence on the territory and more but in light of the US President's threat of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to acquire Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges in Europe are taking it seriously.

"The current crisis has just emphasized – yet again – the EU's core shortcoming {